The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1887-04-21

contributions to the magazines and
newspapers, and this republication is
fitting testimonial of the appreciation
of the sporting public. A memoir Of
the poet by Mr.. F. E. Pond, ''Will
Wildwood" precedes the collection.
Henry Thorpe at 90 Nassau ST., (New
York. is the enterprisinS publisher.
l had the pleasure a few days ago
of looking over the ''latest arrivals at
the New York Press Clubs Library on
Mason street, and beheld one hand
somely gotten-up volume which at
tracted my attention. Its title is
s.Grant as a Soldier" and Is from the
pen of a St. Louis Lawyer, Mr.. Au
gustus w. Alexander. Admirers and
| friends of the late General will Ger
tainly condemn the contents of the
book, as it gives some startling revela-
ton concerning his term as a soldier.
! As to Fort Donelson the author asserts
that Grant left the battlefield while the
battle was raging and was absent from
a gunboat from early morning till be-
tween four and five o'clock in the at
ternoon. He makes bold to assert
that for this misconduct he should
| have been sent before court martial.
| don't know how this book will be
received by northern readers, but | am
almost certain that the States of Lou
! isiana and South Carolina will give it
hearty reception, considering the
tyrannical acts inflicted there. But
why not forgive and forget?
"Brother and Lover" by Eben f.
Rexford, is a short pathetic little story
in blank verse that deserves, for the
tender feeling in it, kinder treatment
than its degree Of poetic merit will
probably obtain for it. A woman tells
of the bereavement of her childhood
when her mother dies, of the love for
her brother she could not divide with
his friend, OF their going away together
to the battlefield where the brother
was killed, and the lover sorely
wounded, and Of her visit to what may
be, bat is not, the hospital death-bed
of the latter. a story in blank verse
must avoid innumerable pitfalls Of the
commonplace which are evident in
every page of .sBrother and Lover" !"
Nor is it redeemed from these by any
striking heights or climaxes. Yet it
is instict with pure sentiment, and eX-
presses everywhere a gentle sweetness
that disarms the critic as effectuallY as
the unpretending beauty and fragrance
of a wood violet. John B. Alden,
New York; is the publisher, and to
him my thanks are due for favoring
me with a copy.
The growth of literature of iction is
becoming more perCeptible with each
year. More novels are being issued
by American publishers than almost
any three other classes Of books. A
visit to the large publishing house OF
D. Appleton & Co., on Bond ST., will
readily confirm the truth of my asser-
ton. One of their latest production
is, "Miss Churchill: A Study" by
Christian Reid, of Salisbury, n. G. In
this study of Miss Churchill the gifted
authoress has given us a character
who is a genuine woman in every re-
speCt. She understands in her every
shade of feeling, every aspiration, every
weakness, all her strength. Her grasl
of feminine nature is marvellous, of the
bitterness and restless hopelessness o
a spirit loving beauty, craving some
intellectual creativeness; full OF the fire
of genius, yet hampered and represseC
by poverty, the uncongenlal task 0
teaching, and, more than all, the un
E sympathetic surroundings found in al
isolated plantation among the South
ern pines, where war had left its desc
, lating stamp on the face of man anC
land alike. More marvellous still i
Christian Reds understanding of tht
woman, suddenly transferred to life a
it exists in an Italian villa presided
over by woman of exquisite delicac,
and refinement of taste, Of wide knowl
] edge and unbounded wealth, where al
!, the external conditions of life, with it
f atmosphere of beauty and grace exis
I ready made, as it were, for Mis-
Churchill; the very condition, in fact
which she would in her creative i'm
pulses have endeavOrcd to make fo
p herself The inertia of the spirit tha
> follows from all of this, the temDtatio
f to marry into these surroundings, whe
, not to do so would mean going bac
a into the barrenness of the old life
q when it would mean giving up every
thing which existed that satihed he
love of beauty and the possession {
i which she was to give up all for mer
: possibility of finding them again, an
2 then only working through grindin
e poverty in order to develop her ow
intellectual powers, which, when sh
s needs them, she half distrusts. All {
4 this is shown with wonderful skill b
q the authoress. If there is anything i
# the workmanship which the readt
q does not quite admire, 1t is because h
i would have no flaw to mar the surfao
4 of SO perfect delineatlon of one tyE
,s of a woman's character.
; The Bro0kLn Magazine, hithert
. conducted as somewhat local ente
,f prise, but with much success, has bee